Church institutions and properties in Jerusalem under threat

Church institutions and properties in Jerusalem are under threat as a result of contracts of disputed legality, the efforts of radical settler groups, and policies of the government of Israel, says the World Council of Churches (WCC).

‘The Executive Committee expresses its solidarity and support for efforts to retain church ownership and control of properties in Jerusalem, including properties currently under dispute in the Jaffa Gate area, for the future survival of the Christian presence in the region’, said a statement from the World Council of Churches Executive Committee, which met in Amman, Jordan from 17-23 November 2017.

Legislative initiatives under discussion in the Knesset that would give Israel the authority to override historic ecclesiastical landlord/ownership rights, are also of grave concern, said the WCC.

‘Initiatives that threaten the delicate historic set of relationships, rights and obligations encompassed in the “Status Quo” arrangements risk further destabilisation of the situation in Jerusalem and the Holy Land’, said the executive committee, calling for such initiatives to be withdrawn.